DATE - 12/18/98 22:26:09
FROM - pie
well i am thinking 4 places to check voltage values continuity and ground ...
i am assuming you are using 1 leg circuit or 120 for power not 240.
1. check at the wall for 120+ vac
- no voltage or low voltage indicates a problem between your reptacle and
you
breaker box.
- voltage at 120+ vac go to step 2
2. check at the power side of the ballast
- no voltage or low voltage indicates a problem in your wiring between
the
receptacle and the ballast. you can verify this by checking continuity
of each wire
and wiggling the wire to see if you get a great fluctuation in the readings
( 0 to
infinity or there abouts) . you may have just enough wire strands broken
to lower
the voltage below the operating level of the ballast or a bad ground wire.
- voltage at 120+ vac go to step 3
3. check the wires at the bulb side of the ballast
- no voltage or low voltage indicates a problem in your ballast.
- voltage at 240+ vac go to step 4
4. check the wires at the socket
- no voltage or low voltage indicates a problem in your wiring between
the ballast
and the socket. you can verify this by checking continuity of each wire
and wiggling
the wire to see if you get a great fluctuation in the readings ( 0 to infinity
or there
abouts) . you may have just enough wire strands broken to lower the voltage
below
the operating level of the bulb or a bad ground wire.
- voltage at 240+ vac and your problem is in the bulb or the socket.
Notes:
- if you are not confident in working with electricity, you may want to
take it to a
repair shop and have them look at it. you can still check your recepticle
under load.
- do not attempt to do this stoned
- do not do this alone.
- the voltages noted on the side of my ballast are 120 (power)/ 208 (inside
the
ballast)/ 240. do not worry if they exceed these numbers because they will.
look for
low or inadequate voltage or infinite/high resistance in the wires.
- i believe an inductive amp meter would make short work of this chore.
never have
used one myself but i believe you can run it up and down the wires to check
for
amperage fluctuations. works like an inductive timing light kinda.
- if you are fuzzy on how to check for ground, continuity, voltage drop
(power),
and id'ing the hot wire I would go to home depot and buy one of those $5
ortho
books on basic home repairs for the beginner. they do a better job at explaining
than
i could.
hope i helped.